


Another Day, Another Library

by suluismyspirit



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Shenanigans, mixed timelines, sassyness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-15
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-08-31 04:54:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8564824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suluismyspirit/pseuds/suluismyspirit
Summary: The Doctor finds himself in a library, meeting up with people from his past. Or are the from his future? Things aren't all what they seem, however, and they must hurry to find out what's really going on. Friends are appearing, some disappearing, and old enemies are making things difficult.
(I am so bad at summaries...)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> To distract myself, and anyone else, from the fact that I am being super slow working on my Star Trek story Purge of the New Order, I'm posting this. Yet another unfinished, though nearly completed, fic. Enjoy. More chapters coming as soon as I get them edited.

It was nice, as libraries go. Plenty of places to lounge around. And it was quiet. A nice change for him, that was for sure. Which was why the Doctor was currently sitting on an over sized purple chair, red and white converse propped up on the purple foot rest, with a book open on his lap. He had on his brainy specs, one elbow braced against the armrest, his fist propping up his face as he read. He sighed lightly, letting out a short grumble as he allowed the book to fall closed, then tossed it onto the nearby table. 

"Well, that was no help at all." he muttered to himself, getting up from the cushioned chair and wandering over to the shelves nearby. He was wearing his usual brown pin striped suit, his long trench coat currently laying across the chair he'd recently vacated. He put his hands in his pockets as he walked, coming to a stop in front of the rows of books and perusing through them unhurriedly. Every so often he'd put out a hand, tracing the title of a book before moving on. 

He’d been wandering for a while, scanning through the shelves, though he’d found nothing he wanted. Eventually he made his way back to the chair only to find it occupied by another. She’d made herself quite comfortable, even going so far as to be sitting sideways, legs draped over the armrest, back pressed against the other side. Consequently, the position meant she was more or less sitting on his coat. 

“Um. Excuse me, if I could just...” he started, pointing vaguely at his coat. He hadn’t really intended on settling back down, so he wasn’t exactly concerned over the loss of what was the most comfortable chair in the place. He simply needed his coat back. He trailed off as the woman looked up from her book, giving him a sly grin. Here was trouble. With a capital T. 

“Hello, Sweetie.” The woman said, smiling. She closed the book, standing and tucking it under her arm before she handed him his coat. “Thought you’d come back for this eventually.” She said lightly, putting a hand on her hip as she waited for him to take it.

The Doctor froze at the greeting, the statement tickling some part of his mind. He’d heard those words before, but where… “Um… thanks.” He finally managed, taking the coat. His brow furrowed as he studied the woman, from the wild reddish blonde hair to her brown boots. She was wearing a jean jacket over top a plain shirt, with blue jeans and a holster, blaster and all. Very out of place for a library in his opinion. 

“I’m sorry, do I know you?” The Doctor couldn’t stop from asking. He had a sneaking suspicion, that yes, in fact he did know her. But he couldn’t for the life of him remember from where. And she’d yet to stop giving him that knowing smile. 

She chuckled, shaking her head at him. “As you like. I’m Professor River Song.” She said, waving a hand as she wandered over to the bookshelf nearby, looking absently up and down the stacks of books. “Odd place to find you, Doctor. In a library.” 

So she knew him then? She’d called him Doctor, but he’d not told her. He stood there for a second, mouth opened, brow furrowed in surprise. Until, that is, his brain caught up with him, and he finally remembered. “No, hang on. River Song? How are you here? _Why_ are you here?” River had wandered away a few feet by this time, so he jogged over to her, peering at her intently. 

“Can’t a girl read?” River scoffed, giving him a gentle nudge with a shoulder, not looking up at him. 

“Yes, but… Oh…” The Doctor trailed off, taking off his glasses and tucking them away before folding his hands behind his head and staring up at the ceiling. “But this isn’t right… It’s just..” He muttered to himself under his breath. At this River finally looked over at him, giving him a puzzled look. River eyed the Doctor, not really sure what to make of his muttering. "Doctor.." she began to ask, but was cut off.

“Master?” A metallic voice rang out, the tell-tale sign of one specific dog wheeling down the isles could be heard.

“MASTER!” K-9 spoke louder this time, his radar like ears twitching a little bit and his tail giving a slight waggle. 

The Doctor spun around, hearing K-9, but he didn't express any enthusiasm at the sudden appearance of the robot. "Wha-what?" he stuttered, hands falling to his side as he stared. And as if that were not enough, right behind K-9 stood the one and only Captain Jack Harkness. “What are you two doing here!?" He all but shouted, completely baffled at this point.

“Fancy seeing you here Doctor. What brings you?” Jack said, greeting them with a smile. 

River moved forward, taking opportunity of the Doctors speechless staring to squat down and pat K-9. “So you’re K-9.” She said, scratching his head. 

“And who might you be?” Jack asked River, looking down at her as she petted K-9 a few feet in front of him. River stood up as Jack spoke, giving him a smile. He held out his hand for her to shake, “Hi, I’m Captain Jack Harkness.” He grinned, bringing his other hand up to clasp hers as she accepted the handshake. 

"Stop it." Both River and the Doctor admonished Jack in unison, River laughing lightly at the scowl the Doctor directed at her for it. "Professor River Song." She introduced herself, shaking his hand briefly and letting go, giving him no chance to prolong the contact. She'd heard of him. 

Jack let out a little chuckle at the two speaking in unison. “I’m guessing you’ve heard of me.” He quipped, grinning. “Why do I have a feeling something’s going on here?” he asked, directing the question to the Doctor. 

"None of this is right." The Doctor broke in, looking around at the group. "None of you should be here. You shouldn't be _able_ to be here." He turned full circle, looking around at the surrounding shelves. "It's...it's... just a library. But..." He trailed off again. River turned to look at him, crossing her arms and waiting for him to finish a thought for once. "But?" she prompted, running out of patience. 

"Something's wrong." He said somberly, though not elaborating at all. 

"Come on, there's got to be a computer around here somewhere." He finished, voice a touch higher and more cheerful, though he felt anything but. He slung his coat on, fixing the collar as he walked. He paid little to no attention to the group behind him as they followed, trading greeting and domestic pleasantries as they wished. Because none of them should be here. It was wrong. River had died, or her body had in any case, her mind saved to a computer. One that was, ironically, located in a library. Jack had been left on earth following the episode with Davros. K-9 should be with Sarah Jane. Just what was this place?

River shook her head, smiling gently at the Doctor's indication of there being a problem. When wasn't there a problem? But that's what made him the Doctor, after all. She let him be all brooding and pensive, following after him naturally. "He was this unhappy before you two showed up." She commented lightly, walking along. "I don't know why though." 

“Glad it wasn’t my fault then.” Jack commented, falling in step with River. K-9 had wheeled ahead to be next to the Doctor. “I was in Cardiff, working at Torchwood I’m sure you know. Anyway, I noticed this new library, and thought to myself, what the heck. I may as well try it out. And what’s with the robot dog? You called it K-9? Heh, that’s original.” 

“He was one of the Doctor’s companions, a long time ago.” River said, giving Jack the short explanation. Jack nodded, then frowned slightly, speeding up to catch up to the Doctor, River following suit. “You asked what we are doing here Doctor, but I think the real question is what are you doing here? Not exactly like you to be wandering around a quiet dusty library. And what do you mean I’m not _supposed_ to be here?” 

As they walked, they passed a few others in the library, though none of them paid the group any mind. A couple at a table were huddled together, quietly discussing a book that lay open between them. The lady wore a wedding gown, the man a tuxedo. Across from them, in a chair beside a table and lamp, sat a very small, very non-human, red man. He sported little spikes all over, and the Doctor knew he was part cyborg as well, though as to how he knew so certainly was a mystery. As they passed couple of stacks, the Doctor saw a couple of green people, also covered in spikes, and wearing lab coats. Though the way they were whispering heatedly over a book the taller one was waving around, he knew they weren't responsible. The Doctor frowned, recognizing the former two groups, but didn't stop to interact with them.

The Doctor slowed, realizing Jack had caught up with him and was speaking, so he turned his attention to him, coming to a halt. 

He took a breath, it appeared he'd have to start from the beginning. River had come by to stand on his other side, next to K-9, but was also giving him an expectant look. He turned to Jack first, "You said you came here from Torchwood, yes? On earth. But look around. This isn't earth. It can't be earth. One, there are aliens. And yes there have been aliens on earth, but two, they don't have books like these on earth." he explained, nodding his head at River.

River had been giving him a puzzled look all throughout this explanation, but pulled the book out from under her arm as he lifted his eyebrows expectantly. "It's titled, 'Lost then Found: The Moon of Poosh', by Dee Dee Blasco." She said, handing it to Jack, a thought occurring to her. "And he's right; this isn't earth. Can't be. I would know, I entered the library from a planet in a completely different solar system. And time. Doctor, what's going on?" This was making less sense with each passing moment to River.  
."Exactly, you didn’t come here from earth." The Doctor stated, tilting his head with shrug of the shoulders.

Jack accepted the book with a sigh, reading the cover. “I was afraid you were gonna say that.” He mumbled. He had noticed the odd people as well, though had followed the Doctor’s example and left them alone. 

That didn't help River at all, but before she could press further, the Doctor ran off with a shout of "aha!" She quickly followed, Jack and K-9 hot on her heels, stopping beside him at a computer terminal. She watched as he pulled out his sonic, scanning the device and watching as the data flashed across the screen, leaving room for Jack to see as well.

Unseen by the three, around a corner, some six or so rows away, lumbered a larger creature. Standing at about seven foot in height, not including the horns, the fur covered beast was most obviously a minator. It shuffled a few steps before it caught sight of them, letting out a low rumble as it turned their way and lumbered forward.

"This doesn't make any sense." The Doctor stated, leaning in and peering closely at the screen.

“Master?” K-9 inquired, having spotted the oncoming threat.

“What is it Doctor?” Jack asked, tilting his head at the confusing readout, “What does this mean?” 

"Half of it's gibberish, makes no sense at all. It's like saying two and two are...purple to the square root of pie? What? It's just nonsense. And the other half, well it's not even trans-"  
He cut off abruptly, straightening up quickly. "The TARDIS." His voice had dropped low, nearly a whisper, and slightly horrified. He couldn't remember where it was, when he'd last seen his time ship. He hadn't come here aboard the TARDIS, he'd remember that surely. And why hadn't it occurred to him sooner? It hadn't even crossed his mind. Something was very wrong.

“Master.” K-9 spoke up again, this time a bit louder.

"Doctor, what's wrong?" River asked, concerned, though she got no reply. 

“Doctor, are you saying your TARDIS is missing?” Jack asked, voice a bit panicked.

Seeing as the Doctor was a bit preoccupied, K-9 rolled back, bumping into River’s leg to gain her attention. River took a step back, looking down at K-9. "Yes? What is it?" She asked, looking down at him before following the dog's gaze. Her mouth dropped open slightly at the sight that greeted her, and she turned to face it properly. "Doctor..." she said softly, not taking her eyes off the creature still making it's way slowly towards them. 

“This can’t be another planet, it would be too noticeable.” Jack said, trying to come up with an explanation as to what this place was. And where. “Unless it’s a disguise? But we would still notice right? But what’s with the books?” He spoke his thoughts aloud, looking at the book River had given him. “If it’s a planet or a time machine… But this place, does it take enough people and just disappear…?” He trailed off, still thinking. 

The Doctor turned to Jack, speaking quickly, interrupting the Captain’s thoughts. "Taking people and disappearing? But why? Why would it want them? And how? If it's a machine, there's got to be a control center somewhere, with actual proper computers. Not this." He gestured irritably at the useless computer they were currently standing next to. "This is just rubbish, you'd be better off with a sticker.”

"Doctor.." River said, a bit more forcefully, turning to give him a sharp look before keeping her eyes on the creature.

"And it's likely not anywhere out in the open." The Doctor continued, tapping on the screen, frowning thoughtfully. "Which means we'll have find it, and hopefully find out who's behind all this." Not to mention reverse it. Whatever was going on was very not good, and had even affected him.

"DOCTOR!" River finally shouted, reaching over to hit his arm. 

"Oh..." The Doctor trialed off, having turned to see what had River's attention. "Well, that's just...um. We should probably...RUN!" He yelled out the last word, giving Jack a little push and grabbing River's hand as he bolted.


	2. Chapter 2

“This is more like it.” Jack laughed, turning at the Doctor’s insistence and running. He didn’t know what that creature chasing them was, but he knew better than to draw his gun. The Doctor wouldn’t be happy if he shot it, so he just ran. 

"Come on K-9! Find the lift, where's the lift?" The Doctor shouted, turning round a corner. 

As they ran, the Doctor noted a few abandoned books laying open as if someone had been reading them but had vanished. And the people that had been in this area were no longer there. He kept that to himself, however, focusing on finding the lift and keeping ahead of the minator that was picking up it's pace as it chased after them. 

“Up ahead, two yards on the left, Master.” K-9 instructed after a short and quick scan. 

“Good boy!” The Doctor yelled, turning the corner.

Seeing the red doors ahead, he pointed his sonic and they opened up with a happy little ding. "Inside!" he shouted, dashing into the elevator, River a step behind him.  
Jack and K-9 were only a moment behind them, taking the left side of the elevator. The Doctor turned to shut the doors once they were all in, but a glint of silver caught his attention and he dove to the side, shoving into River in the process, the two of them collapsing into the corner. Just in time to as a red beam of light flashed where he'd been standing. Three little silver orbs had drifted down, shooting laser beams in all directions, effectively stopping the minator. They were giggling madly, little curved blades popping out from their center. "Jack, K-9! Do something!" Ten shouted at them. "That's the Toclafane, you can shoot them." He added, in case Jack didn't recognize them, or didn't know them yet, depending. His screwdriver lay against the back wall of the lift, in the center and right in the line of fire, so closing the doors would help much right now. Besides, the minator they could outrun, but these things.

“No problem.” Jack replied, taking out his weapon and leveling peeking around the doors. “Is this a bad time to mention I have a theory?” 

K-9 moved to get a clear shot. “Lasers activated.” He chimed, firing at the orbs.

River had unholstered her blaster at the Doctors words, ducking around the corner to fire, before taking cover again. "Now there's a story I haven't heard." She told him, smiling. "Can't wait." She glanced over to make sure Jack and K-9 were all right, before turning her attention back to the problem at hand.

Once two of the three orbs had been taken out, K-9 moved over to the Doctor. “My hyperlink facility is operation, Master, if you have need of it.” He offered, ears twitching and tail giving a little wag.

River poked her head around the door after a few more rounds, relaxing as the last of the orbs fell. "Well, that's done then." she sighed cheerfully, getting to her feet. She offered a hand to the Doctor pulling him up and turned to do the same for Jack. The Doctor accepted the assistance, looking out the doors at the chaos with gritted teeth. 

“Never a dull moment with you Doctor.” Jack laughed, brushing himself off and putting away his gun after River pulled him to his feet.

"Maybe later K-9." The Doctor replied to K-9’s offer, turning away and leaning down to scratch the robot dog's head before retrieving his sonic. "Who ever it is that's done this, has got to be really clever. And I wouldn't want them getting into your systems." he explained, using the sonic to close the doors and start the lift. A few short seconds later and the doors opened onto the second floor. 

"Right." he said, walking out the doors and looking around. The rest of the group followed suit. So far this floor was clear. "We should split up, see if you can find anything that looks like it doesn't belong. And if you don't recognize something, don't fire at it." He instructed, directing that last bit specifically at River and Jack. The last thing he needed was for one of them to mess up a timeline somehow. Because it was beginning to look more and more like that was a problem. "And if you do recognize it, same thing." He added as an afterthought. 

"Jack, you'll come with me, River, you and K-9 go that way. K-9 can do a scan of any computers and see if they're real. If you find anything, shout." He certainly wasn't going to let River and Jack wander off together. He wasn't sure this library could handle it. What they were looking for wasn't going to be obvious, he knew that much. When he'd tried searching on that other console he'd come up with less than nothing. 

The Doctor glanced up as he turned and walked in the opposite direction he'd sent River and K-9. Jack gave River a parting look, a little bummed but then grinned and trotted after the Doctor.

"So, you said you had a theory? Let's hear it." Ten said to Jack. 

"Well it's a bit of a long one. Not to mention it’s got few holes in it. But, I noticed how that there were either people talking about a book or reading a book. I know it is a library and that's what you do... But where's a librarian to tell them to shush? And I know you have already noticed that there's probably a problem with the time gap and how that there's all kinds of people in here. And that is what had gotten me to a conclusion. Is it possible that what ever is behind all of this is probably feeding on these people somehow? Don't get me wrong, but didn't you notice that there was some open books but nobody around when we passed?" Jack explained.

The Doctor paid attention to Jack's theory as he spoke, looking around at the library at the same time. He frowned as something occurred to him though. He waited until Jack had finished laying out his theory before saying anything.

"Jack." he said slowly, walking to a railing and looking up at the floor above then the one below. "Does this place seem to be shrinking?" It had been massive before. He was sure of it. But there were only the two levels now. And it looked as if the stacks of books had thinned out some. Not to mention the mess they'd made a few minutes ago was completely gone. 

Jack walked over to peer over the railing, looking up as well. “It does, actually. There should be at least two more floors above us. I remember the library being massive when I arrived. I think…” Jack didn’t sound quite as positive at the end. 

"Right." The Doctor muttered, rubbing his chin. "Here I was hoping it was just me." He stood there thinking for a moment, then turned around to lean against the rail and look at Jack. "Something might be taking the people, that's a fair point. But the thing about the time gap though. It's weird. More weird than a hoshpost of people from all of time and space. I mean you've got your people from the past, the future, the present, from earth, not from earth. All jumbled here together. Coming and going... sort of. But do any of them look familiar. Because I'm positive I've seen half of these people before. Had contact with them. And the Toclafane. They shouldn't be able to exist here." He ran a hand through his hair, letting out a short groan of frustration. None of this made sense. And there was precious little around that seemed to give any sort of answer.

The two of them fell silent for a moment, before Jack turned to the Doctor. “So, where to next?”

He gave a semi shrug at Jack's query, opening his mouth to answer. Before he had the chance to speak, however, a flood of red lights flashed through the library.

~~~~~~~~~~~  
 **River and K-9**

River didn't argue with the Doctor's splitting up the group, though she did give Jack a grin, guessing the reason he'd not put them together. She watched them walk away for a second before turning to K-9. "Right then, after you." She grinned, walking along. 

K-9 wheeled along beside her, silent but for the sound of his gears moving. 

They came to door after a while, a keypad locking it. "Don't suppose you could open this?" she asked him. Sure, she could manage it, but the Doctor had split them up, so he was probably in a hurry, and K-9 could do it faster. 

”Affirmative.” K-9 replied, moving forward, a node coming from his head and attaching to the keypad. A moment later and the door slid open. “A simple code.” He quipped, making way for River to enter.

“Nice work.” River complimented, walking through the doors. The lights in the room came on as she entered, revealing what was in the room. Inside was a crescent table made of some shiny black material. It was littered with papers, a few books, and some folders. Papers and books they might be, but they were nothing like what was in the rest of the library. K-9 saw no computer to scan, and the papers were out of his reach, so he stood watch, letting River snoop around at her leisure. 

River took her time looking through the papers, not wanting to miss anything important. The data on them was fascinating, if a bit confusing for her. One thing was for sure, it was certainly something the Doctor might want to see. The most interesting of files was a schematic for a spherical chamber of some sort. The notes were extremely technical, but thankfully readable. Not that this was much help. She put these papers back in the folder, keeping hold of it to bring to the doctor as she shuffled through some other pages. "Well this is interesting." She said, glancing at K-9. "It looks like we're not the first people to be brought here. There are some pictures, with charts and numbers. I'm not sure what to make of it." She gathered them up, walking over to K-9 and showing him one. "It looks like the person at the top is the focus, and the rest are just offshoots. But I can't make heads nor tails of the rest of the numbers. It says here, something about time energy." She said, hoping maybe K-9 could make a bit more sense of the numbers and scribbled equations.

K-9 scanned over the page, analyzing the numbers and images. “A ship of some sort, Mistress.” He said, “And energy output figures.” 

He was unable to further interpret the information for her, however, as the room flashed red, a holographic projection starting up on the back wall. "Ok, that can't be good." River stated straightening up. "Any idea what that says?" She asked. There were words being portrayed on the wall, though she couldn't quite read them. But they were large and important looking, blinking red in a very 'danger' type way. 

”Negative.” was K-9’s response. “Probable library security. Cause unknown.” 

"Oh, it was probably my fault." she responded. "Doubtless something in the table, maybe a motion sensor. But we should definitely go." she conclude, backing away for a second before turned and making a hasty retreat out the door. Not too soon it seemed as a few seconds later, the door slammed closed. She turned to look, watching as a second door came down, and a loud click signaled the room was now effectively deadlock sealed. "Well, we won't be getting back in there easily." she noted, giving a short sigh. River paused for a moment, thinking of the room and its contents. "It was a bit strange, that room. Not something that exactly fit in with the rest of the library's look. But at least I kept ahold of these." She grinned with a glance at K-9, holding up the two files she'd picked up. "We can show them to the Doctor." With that she turned, heading back to where they'd parted ways. He couldn't have missed all the flashing red lights and would doubtless come running. 

~~~  
 **The Doctor and Jack**

"River!" He shouted, frustration apparent in his tone, and ran back the way they'd just come. He skidded to a halt in front of a wall full of books, looking around in confusion. "No, no, no!" He growled, pacing back and forth a few steps. They'd parted here, right here, but it had changed. Jack came jogging up a second later, coming to a stop and watching the Doctor pace a bit as he caught his breath. 

“Did you make any new enemies recently?” Jack inquired, looking around and trying to make sense of things. 

"I don't think I've made any new enemies, but, well. It’s been known to happen." He shrugged, turning away from the wall to face Jack and answer his question.

”This is all very interesting.” Jack began, waving a hand at the newly appeared wall. “But at some point the thing behind all this cleverness is gonna mess up right?" Jack asked. It wasn't exactly a question, He was more or less telling himself that so it wouldn't feel pointless for even trying to find a clue or a hint of some sort. 

The Doctor looked up at the lights, eyes narrowing in thought. "Looks like some kind of security protocol. River and K-9 must have found something interesting. And whatever this place is, it can rearrange itself. Or someone is rearranging it." 

He looked back at the wall, reaching out to touch it, confirming it was, in fact, a solid wall and not a hologram of some sort. "If there's a control room here, it'll be fixed." he said, referring to his earlier conclusion of the place shrinking. He turned away from the wall again, this time walking away, beckoning Jack to follow. "We need to find K-9, he can scan the place, compare it to when he first arrived and find the point where the space is centered around." The only problem being, the others could be literally anywhere in the library. And while it did appear to be getting smaller, it was still quite large, and it would be best to find them quickly. There was no guarantee that one of them wouldn't disappear next. 

He skidded to a halt as they passed a circle of chairs, walking back a few steps and picking up a fez off of a pillow. With a completely straight face, he put it atop his head and continued walking. 

“So when we find K-9, we’ll be able to find out more about this place? Can he do a scan and find out how many people are actually here?” Jack asked, choosing to ignore the fez the Doctor now wore.

“Probably. Well, possible.” The Doctor answered, shrugging. “Well… no. Not really, but he should be able to compare how large this place was, to how large it is now.” Ten doubted there were very many people here. Not anymore anyways.

Eventually they found themselves in the biographies. Unfortunately, according to the index on the stacks, this was on the third floor. "Blimey, this is going to be a bit tedious." The Doctor said, looking around for a lift, or stairs, or even another person at this point. As if hearing his wish, near the corner, a snowman appeared.


	3. Chapter 3

**River and K-9**

"At least it's quiet." River commented, looking up at the two floors above them. While the flashing red lights were slightly irritating, there was no accompanying audible alarm. Not that she was foolish enough to assume an alarm hadn't been raised. As they turned the corner to where the Doctor should be River stopped short, frowning. Instead of the intersection at the elevator, they found themselves at the front desk. "More than just flashing lights then." she said, giving K-9 and apologetic look. She moved over to the desk, searching around for any clues or additional information. "See if you can find some way to get ahold of Jack and the Doctor." She instructed K-9. "Maybe there's a PA system you can use." 

”Affirmative.” K-9 responded, going behind the desk and attempting to interface with the computer there. While the machine didn’t have any real information on it, it wasn’t a proper computer as the Doctor would say, it did connect to the loudspeaker. 

”Connection established.” The robotic dog reported.

”Wonderful.” River said, abandoning her fruitless search and picking up the mic. “Doctor. I’m hoping you can hear this. I’ve found some information you should see, but it seems I tripped some security in the process. I don’t know how, but K-9 and I are at the front desk, on the first floor.” 

She was assuming they were still in the library, certain one of them would have noticed being transported. The walk here hadn’t exactly been fraught with distractions.

While she waited, she set some of the more complicated equation filled papers down next to K-9, taking the rest and spreading them out on the desk. Hopefully she could decipher something. “Keep an eye out for the Doctor.” She told K-9, knowing he’d have an easier time detecting approaching people no matter what data he was processing. Of course he’d probably be watching for his TimeLord master anyways. “Or anything dangerous.” She added distractedly, already wrapped up in looking through the pages in front of her. It felt like being back in school getting her degree in archaeology. 

**Captain Jack and The Doctor**

Jack stood beside Ten, looking up at the stacks. Apparently this was going to be more difficult than they’d imagined. He grinned excitedly at that. It was dangerous here, but that’s what made it fun. Who knew what else they might run into while trying to navigate this place. “Good thing I’m up for a hike then.” He commented, though he got no reply. He waited a beat before tossing out another comment, gaze finally drifting over to the Doctor and up to his new headgear. “You know, you probably should have left that alone. Someone might miss their red hat and come looking for it. And us.” 

The Doctor furrowed his brow, head tilting to the side slightly at the appearance of the snowman. He didn’t take much notice of Jack talking, though he did interject to correct him. “It’s a fez.” Otherwise he just _looked_. 

Jack rolled his eyes at the Doctors correction, following his gaze to the snowman in the corner. It wasn’t doing anything, and much as it might be out of place, so was pretty much everything in this library. He let his attention wander, scanning the stack and flickering down the way they’d just come. He tensed at what he saw there, eye’s widening in surprise.

“Uh… Doctor, you might want to see this.” 

Of all the things the Doctor had seen in a library, and that experience expanded to a swarm in a spacesuit (granted on a different library), a snowman was certainly very strange. And it wasn’t even cold. 

Jack reached over, tapping the TimeLord on the shoulder as talking didn’t seem to be doing any good whatsoever at all.

”Hm?” the Doctor voiced, turning as Jack tapped his shoulder. His eyes widened at the sight that met him, at it took a lot of effort to keep his mouth from dropping open. “Master.” He whispered after a second, staring into the other man’s brown eyes. “But… how?” 

He frowned, jaw tensing as he stepped forward. “Did you do this? Is this your work?” he demanded, gesturing around at the surrounding books. It didn’t _feel_ like another one of the Master’s scheme’s, and he knew his old friend well enough to tell, but if it were the Master would most likely claim credit. And if it was not his doing, then there was even more cause for concern, for more than one reason.

The Master looked more incensed at being here rather than scheming, so that much was as well as answered without him needing to speak a word. 

This turn of events did cement a part of a theory in the Doctor’s mind, however. He stepped back hearing sharp squeak, a loudspeaker coming online, and looked up as River’s voice blared out. Well, at least they were safe. And perhaps that information she hinted at would explain some things. And he might be able to give some of the answers to the questions that kept being asked. Which made it a bit more of a priority to deal with the Master, if that was needed, and get moving.

Jack jumped a little, hearing River over the loud speaker, but then gave a laugh. “She is good.” He commented, shaking his head.

Behind them the snowman suddenly smiled evilly, empty eyes sharpening into a glare, rows of sharp teeth appearing in its mouth. It advanced forward, slow and silent, leaving a trail of ice in its wake. 

The blonde TimeLord shrugged raising his hands in mock surrender. "This isn't me." He admitted. "I was actually hoping you'd be able to tell me what's going..." His eyes flicked to the snowman though before he could finish his thought. He let out an exasperated sigh and stood in defense.

As River’s voice faded, Jack heard a different sound, and when he turned to look for the source of both that and what it was the Master had seen. He was greeted with the sight of a sharp toothed snowman. He let out a curse, skittering back and pulling out his gun. Forgetting all about the Doctors warning to _not_ shoot things, he fired. 

The Doctor spun around as well, face contorting in a sort of horrified confusion at the think the snowman had morphed into. “What?” he exclaimed, and seconds later Jack was shooting. “JACK!” He shouted, grabbing the man’s arm and yanking it down. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your view, the weapon had little effect on the snowman, something the Doctor could have told Jack. The thing was made of snow, a bullet wasn’t going to do much. 

"And that certainly isn't mine." The Master said in reference to the snowman. 

"Glad to see you're keeping out of trouble then." He commented to the Master, glancing over at him briefly. He kept his eyes on the snowman, backing away until he was standing next to the Master, as opposed to in between him and the snowman. 

"I've got a few theories and I'm sure River will fill in the rest. Snowman's new though." The Doctor had worked with the Master before, all be it a very long time ago, so he wasn't opposed to the idea. Getting Jack to go along, however, might take a bit more convincing. And once they got rid of this thing, they could go get answers.

”You could say that.” The Master replied. “But who is River?" He asked giving the Doctor a sideways glance, rubbing his hands together as he prepared to use his abilities on the snowman. Just snow or not he'd prefer not to die by the teeth of an evil snowman. That would just be embarrassing.

The creature had come to a stop, however momentarily, and the Doctor took that as an opportunity to scan it. "It's just snow." he said, confused. "Snow with some kind of memory implant. Snow that can build itself?"

”Great.” Jack complained. “So how are we gonna get rid of it? Any theories about what it is? Or how it works?” 

”Weren’t you listening, I said memory implant. The snow remembers how to be a snowman.” Ten growled out, taking step back as the snowman decided to continue to advance.

~~

**River and K-9**

River had hardly begun interpreting the papers when she looked up, straightening as the sound of a gun. "That must be Jack." She said, shaking her head slightly. Of course those two would run into something interesting while she wasn't there. Whatever it was that was happening, they'd doubtless start running soon. River was torn between waiting and going to find out what it was they'd found. She grinned, it was really not that difficult a decision. "Let's go then." She said lightly, quickly gathering the papers up. 

”Affirmative.” K-9 chirped, rolling along beside her.

Hopefully they'd be somewhere that didn't require going up steps, River had little desire to carry K-9 up them. She set off at a light jog, keeping an eye on their surroundings in case they ran into something interesting. Lucky for her, they didn't need to climb any stairs. After passing a few stacks, she saw Jack and the Doctor, as well as someone she didn't know. And, what looked like an evil snowman, of all things.

”Master!” K-9 barked out, activating his laser and targeting the snowman. 

The Doctor and the Master both turned around at K-9’s call, Ten smiling widely as he saw him. “Good boy K-9.” He called out as the robot activated his lasers, focusing on the snowman.

”Guess firing at that thing turned out to be a good thing after all.” Jack grinned, letting out a relieved laugh as the laser started melting the snow. The Master joined in soon after, quickening the process.

The Doctor cast the Master an odd look at the other Timelord's strange abilities, but otherwise didn't comment on them.

"It's a long story." he said, referring to his question about River. 

Happily, the combination of K-9's laser and the Master's ability quickly had the snowman melting into a puddle of water. 

"Well, that was...effective." The Doctor commented before turning to River as she walked over. 

"Heard the noise and followed it to you boys. Having fun without me?" She chided, shaking her head at them, but grinned. "Here you are Doctor, see what you can make out of these." she said, handing him the folders. "Who's this then?" she asked, looking at the Master as the Doctor took the files and moved away giving them his full attention. 

The Doctor opened the folders, flipping through the pages quickly, letting Jack catch River up. Though at this point he was sure it wouldn't matter in the long run. 

He let out a short groan after he finished reading, running a hand through his hair. He paused at the action, frowning and looking around for his fez. The thing had simply vanished, and he had no idea when. As if that were not enough, the puddle of snowman had vanished as well, not even leaving a wet spot on the floor. 

"Doctor?" River asked, breaking from her conversation with the others.

The Doctor handed the files to the Master, no use not getting a second opinion, but then proceeded to explain to the others what he'd found. "The good news it someone's behind all this, so it should be reversible. According to those files, this place is like a ship, or a machine." He paused for a moment, scratching his head as he gathered his thoughts. "This... library, it's like a little bubble of time. A little black hole that sucks in time lines, converting it to energy. It only looks like a library. It’s brilliant. Everything, every book, every page, is an illusion. A false reality created to distract the victims. To entertain them until it’s too late and there’s nothing left." He had started pacing at this point, words just flowing out nonstop.

The Master took the files from the Doctor looking them over as he explained them. It all seemed right to him; though the Doctor had always been better at deciphering things like this than he had been. He nodded in agreement. "Undoing this won't be an easy task though." he said looking up as the other Time Lord began to pace.

“And as far as I can tell, it’s centered around me. You see this machine, it takes a person’s timeline, drawing it in, compressing it. It’s what’s pulled all of you here, pulled you from your times to here because at some point, sometime, your timeline’s have crossed with mine. Everyone in this place, however briefly. But it’s not built for someone who’s lived this long, that’s probably why it’s taking so long.” He stopped to take a breath at this, glancing around at them and raking a hand through his hair. “Think, think, think. How’d we get here? Each of us? I didn’t come in the TARDIS, I can’t find it, so there had to be another way.” He groaned, frustrated, using both hands to ruffle his hair. “OH!” he yelled, snapping around to face them. “Transmat! And there’s be a control center around here somewhere. We can get out of here and reverse whatever it is they’ve done. We’ve just got to find it.” 

He finally stopped, breath coming a bit fast, hair completely wild at this point. "Jack, I said earlier this place was shrinking, but the control center will be fixed. A floor where the layout hasn't changed, not really. It'll be something that doesn't stand out, that you'd have seen in passing but not really noticed. River, did you-" He stopped as he turned to speak to River, finding that she was no longer where she'd been standing. She wasn't anywhere, in fact. Just gone. 

The Master noticed River’s absence a second before the Doctor did. He narrowed his eyes. "That can't be good..." he muttered looking around to be sure the springy haired blonde hadn't just wondered off somewhere. Now they were disappearing. Great. He couldn't help but wonder who would be next. If the Doctor was right, and the timelines were all connected to his any one of them could vanish at any given moment. His self-preservation began to kick in as he turned back to the Doctor. "Fix this." he stated flatly. "And fast."

The Doctor gritted his teeth, looking at the spot where River had vanished for a moment. He glanced over at the Master as he demanded a fix for the situation, but really hadn't the slightest clue where to begin.

”Did you say an illusion?” Jack asked, incredulous. It sure felt real. But it made sense, with everything having begun to disappear. He didn’t wait for an answer, the question having been rhetorical, just glanced down at the book he was still holding. The one River had given him. He shook his head, tossing it over his shoulder. “So much for finding anything useful in the reading material then.” He muttered, dejected. 

It was silent for a second, before Jack interjected once more. “So, maybe we should start from the beginning? Where we all met. And continue from there?” he suggested, having little clue what else should be done. “I don’t know about you guys, but I didn’t think about looking around until I met up with you, Doctor. Until that I just thought it was a normal library.”

”River and I found a room, Master.” K-9 chimed in. “Now deadlock sealed.”

”Ah, a secret room, now we’re getting somewhere.” Jack grinned, getting excited.

”If it’s sealed, I doubt it will be easily opened.” The Master sneered, deflating Jack’s excitement.

Jack gave him a short glare, but turned back to the problem at hand. “So we can’t get back in there then.” He sighed.

The Doctor broke in then, addressing K-9. “The two of you found the papers in that room correct?” he asked, received a short nod from K-9. “And you tripped the security, which is all I’m sure that room was used for. Security.”

”That is likely. The room was small. Only one table and few chairs.” K-9 reported, nodding his head a couple of times. 

”Right, so back to the beginning then.” Jack asked, getting back to his original point.

He nodded at Jack's suggestion. "Right. Well I started out here, on the first floor. And.." he glanced up briefly. "Seeing as there's now just one other floor up there, we'll have a better chance at finding this room somewhere here. It will probably have some kind of perception filter on it. That's why we haven't noticed it before." 

"Back to the beginning then. I started out of there." He said, pointing toward the east section of this floor. "Didn't wander much away from there, and there wasn't anything unusual. Jack I think you came from this direction, we can start looking there." He concluded, moving in the opposite direction of his starting point. 

He led a quick pace to the west side of the library, passing the front desk with the patched in loud speaker, a disheveled cataloging file system with papers sticking out everywhere, a staircase going down, and an empty fishbowl with a castle in it atop a table. The shelves were beginning to look a little bare, there were holes in the lines of books were many had gone missing. 

"K-9, can you compute the rate at which the library is shrinking? Compare it to the size it was before and extrapolate the center?" Ten asked as they walked, dropping back to let Jack take the lead as they were headed in the direction he'd have started from.

The Master followed behind the Doctor, huffing a bit at the other Time Lord’s lack of response to him. He should know by now that demanding dear doctor to do anything would not help him. Old habits die hard. He moved to look at the book he had snagged when he had first got there but it had disappeared. He was sure the Doctor would have like to see it. But now that he knew what was going on it made sense that he'd found an old Time Lord book among-st the shelves. He just shrugged it off. It wasn't all that special now so it wasn't important either.

By this point he was getting particularly giddy. He was watching books literally vanish before his eyes. Who knew when it would be more people? Or another Time Lord. He didn't like it. Not one bit.


	4. Chapter 4

Jack moved forward, taking the lead as the Doctor dropped back to speak with K-9. He shot the Master a short glower as they walked, not exactly delight with the other Time Lord’s presence, but willing to tolerate him for the duration of however long they were trapped here. Not that it made it easier to accept him making demands for the Doctor to fix the mess he was trapped in. 

Jack glanced back as K-9 let out a short beep, signaling that his scan was complete. 

“Master, our destination is located somewhere on this floor.” The robot responded. “Searching further..” 

While Jack was thrilled they were on the right track, a few beeps and flashing lights on K-9 soon rid him of that feeling. 

"Interference detected. Terminating link.” K-9 said, sounding a bit disappointed in Jack’s opinion.

The Doctor shook his head as K-9 reported the interference. This place was littered with stray timelines, so it was no surprise to him really. “Don’t worry about it then. We’ll have to do this the old fashioned way.” 

Jack was fine with that, he remembered earlier the Doctor had said something about who ever ran this place might have the ability to trace back K-9’s link. Get into the dog’s systems. That was the last thig they needed. A robotic dog under the control of the bad guys.

”Well, this is where I first remember being.” Jack announced coming to a stop. “That’s strange…” he trailed off, moving over to the wall. He ran a hand along it, searching. “I’m certain there was a door here.”

Ten looked around as Jack announced their arrival, though saw nothing out of the ordinary. He joined Jack by the wall, scanning it with his sonic as Jack pointed out the missing door. “Well, it’s just a wall now.” He confirmed, moving over to look through the few books that remained. They didn’t offer any answers.

”So, basically what you’re saying is there’s nothing of use here.” Jack summed up, frowning and crossing his arms. He didn’t like being useless. “So, does anyone know where River first showed up?”

”Yes, nothing here. And, as far as I know, River appeared where I did, though some time after I arrived. I found her sitting in a chair, but I don’t know if she came from a different section.” Or if that section even still existed the Doctor added to himself, then turned to the Master. “I don’t suppose you saw anything in the area you-“

Ten cut himself off as the wall they’d inspected started to sort of shimmer, like looking at it through a wave of heat coming up off the concrete. “Get away from it!” The Doctor snapped at them, moving back a few paces as well. The wall moved forward a few feet, the objects it touched simply blinking out of existence. If they looked down either side of the wall, the process was the same, and the Doctor was certain that this wall wasn’t the only one doing it. 

”Let’s go back to the main hall.” He stated, turning away once the wall had re-solidified and he was positive it would remain that way for the time being. “Somewhere far away from the walls.” Or any outer edge of the library really. And perhaps they’d find what they needed near the middle of the library. He knew some races took things quite literally, and a control center might be literally located at the center of this place. But where ever it was, they were running out of time. Ten was sure he could at the very least pause the machine, if they could get out of here and to somewhere with the necessary equipment. Reversing it would take longer, but judging by the data on those files it was possible. A relief because not only had this place eaten River, but likely everyone else he’d ever had contact with. But pausing it would come first, or they’d simply vanish without being able to complete the reversal.

Jack, K-9, and the Master followed the Doctor, keeping their thoughts to themselves as they went. 

As they got back to the main room, there were a few differences from when they’d left mere minutes ago. The front desk by the wall was completely bare of the miscellaneous items it had held before. No fake computer, not loudspeaker system, and no stray papers that had previously been there. The catalog system was completely gone, and the fishbowl was a scattering of broken glass on the floor. 

The Doctor stopped near the stairs, looking up. The wide arch of the ceiling was all that met his gaze. The stairs no longer led up. Gazing up, he put a hand on the railing as he moved forward slowly, letting it slide along as the rail sloped down until it dropped off. “That explains the walls.” He said, tone subdued, coming to a halt and placing his hands in his pockets. “All the floors are gone. It’s just a one story library now.” He wasn’t sure where else to go at this point. This trap seemed near perfect. For all he knew those shimmering walls have vanished all the clues and evidence he’d need to find the control room. He refused to believe the control center had been vanished along with so many other things. And they really were running out of time. The Doctor had met so many people, made so many enemies. And yet, save for the four of them, this place was empty. In the beginning they’d walked past many people, run from a few enemies, but now… nothing. Just silence.

”So what do we do now?” Jack asked, looking around at the group before focusing in on the Doctor. “Doctor, where do we go now?” There were few options and Jack was having a hard time keeping a cool head at this point. “What if we’ve got this all wrong.” He began, seeing as the Doctor was obviously not going to respond. “What if the illusions are… well… disappearing? What if when they’re gone it leads to what’s behind the illusions? Like the machine making them?”

”That doesn’t explain why the people are simply vanishing. River was just gone, right in front of us.” The Doctor explained in response. “And if there is something behind the illusion… Well, I’d rather not risk it. Not yet anyway.” He turned round as he talked, leaning against the rail and looking down.   
Jack was silent for a moment, thinking that through. “When you reverse this.” He began to ask, refusing to believe they wouldn’t get out of this. “Will everyone who is gone come back?”

“Everyone should come back, or rather, they’ll go back to their own time streams. Shouldn’t even remember this, it’ll… just… Hang on.” He stated, straightening up abruptly. “This library’s only got one floor.” He said, turning around to give the others a wide grin. Barely waiting for one of them to ask just _why_ he said that so cheerfully, he stepped away spreading an arm out as if to showcase the stair railing. “All the stairs going up, all the shelves and tables and desks disappearing, but right here in the middle of the library, one set of stairs going down. Never even looked twice at it. But now…” he shrugged, letting that though drift away. “What say we take a look then, eh?” 

Back to his usually bouncy self at this hint of a solution or a way out, he spun around, dashing round the rail and taking the stairs down quickly. The stairway ended in a small room, with a row of computers. Old decrepit things. They sat gathering dust, obviously unused for some time. At the back of the room however, was a simple black door, sleek and shiny, completely out of place in this dusty place. Locked, with no discernible handle or knob, it was tightly shut, a small silver keypad to the right the only obvious means of opening it. “You two help K-9!” he called back to them as he entered the room, though he had a feeling Jack would be the one doing the work. For his part, he took out his sonic, moving to the door to work on unlocking it. Fortunately, it wasn’t deadlocked and the keypad gave a sharp beep and flashed green before the door slip open.   
He paid no mind to the sound of Jack muttering complains about K-9’s weigh, nor the dog’s snarky remarks in response. The Master was already at his heels, no surprise there, so he continued through the door into the next room. 

This room was certainly no illusion. All the rest of the library, upon further reflection, could be said to have been made from memories and thoughts of the people in it. That was what fueled the illusion. This was completely alien, and highly advanced. “First thing’s first, let’s get out of here.” He stated, moving over to one of the control panels and scanning it. It took barely a minute for him to realize most of this equipment was regulators for the machine, none of it able to stop the process. The transmat was there, of course, and he set to work programming a transport. 

”All of you, over there.” He ordered, pointing quickly at the transport pad before adding the final touches.

The other Time Lord complied with the Doctor’s beckoning only because he didn’t want to be vanished to who knew where. Jack and K-9 rolled into the room then, and the Doctor shooed them over.

Once done with the programming he jogged over to the group and then pointed his sonic and activated the program. One flash of light later, and they found themselves in a silver room. It looked very clean, immaculate really. The floor, the ceiling, and the walls were all a shining silver. Other than they pad they were now standing on, the room was host to a single circuit board with a few screens. The Doctor ran over to it, looking it over quickly and reading the layout on the screen. “We haven’t got much time.” He mumbled, turning some knobs and pressing a few buttons. “I can’t reverse it from here, but I think…” he glanced over at the Master, lifting an eyebrow and nodding at the control panel as a hint. “Help me rewrite the protocol, pause the process. We’ll have to find the main computer to do anything more. Jack, you and K-9 keep a lookout see if they have a handy map right out there telling us which way to go.” He directed, only semi joking about the map. It would be very nice to have something to go by, maybe a nice ‘you are here’ sticker as well? He shook those thoughts away, focusing on the task at hand.

The Master glanced around at the pristine surroundings. It was certainly a different point of view; he wasn’t used to rooms being so well groomed. He nodded to the Doctor’s request, joining him at the computers. “Just like when we were children.” He chuckled. “You calling the shots and I am left doing all the work.” He knew it was really the other way around most of the time, but he didn’t much care. He went to work quickly assisting his old friend in whatever way needed. Even if it was mainly just to save his own neck.  
The Doctor gave the Master a smirk at the comment, but didn’t call him out on it. “Alright..” he said after a moment, finishing the code. “That should stop the timeline degradation, we won’t be vanishing off to fuel the machine anymore. Now just to lock it...” He did so using his sonic, backing away from the console when he’d finished. “There, they shouldn’t be able to restart the machine if, and by that I mean when, they notice us.” Which he was sure they would investigate the reason for the drop in power, especially when the group started poking around looking for the main computer. 

With another quick glance at the Master, Ten turned and exited the room, looked either way down the hall for Jack and K-9. They couldn’t have gotten far. A large screen on one of the walls caught his eye and he jogged over. A quick scan with the sonic pulled up a map. “Well, that’s helpful.” He quipped, leaning in to find their location. “Now…where are we, and where do we need to go?” he asked, really just thinking aloud at this point. 

The Doctor straightened, brow furrowing at the sound of footsteps. His eyebrows rose as he turned, catching sight of what had to be the local’s behind this madness. The beings were abnormally tall and slender, with near translucent skin. They were wearing extremely decorative armor, a stark contrast to the plain silver walls of the hallway. They had no mouths or noses on their over-sized heads, only large brown eyes. Their hair fell down around them like thin spider webs. 

The pair of creatures stopped upon seeing the group in the hall, and appeared to be having an intense, if silent, argument. One was pointing aggressively towards the group, the other shaking its head, resolute in its opinion of the matter. After a moment, the angry one threw it hands up, apparently giving up. Both of them then closed their eyes, as if concentrating. They had presumably having sent a message of some sort because, not a moment later, a loud alarm blared.

“It would appear our captors are somewhat telepathic.” The Master said, keeping an eye on the pair as the Doctor turned his attention back to the map. “Sometime soon would be nice, Doctor.” He chided, frowning as the creatures, apparently emboldened by the alarm and what would likely be backup arriving, had started to advance. Though he knew he could use his abilities, it did tend to... destabilize him, and he rather not risk such a thing happening here, when time was already twisted so much.

“Alright, alright, almost…” The Doctor muttered to his old friend, eyes flickering across the map. “Yes! There, not too far!” He shouted, turning and dashing off, the Master right on his heels.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Getting nearer to the end of the story! Comments are always appreciated!


	5. Chapter 5

They’d barely turned two corners when the pair of Time Lords caught sight of K-9 and Jack. K-9 seemed to be providing scathing commentary as Jack attempted to break the encoded lock on the door in front of him.

“Alright, alright, enough you two.” The Doctor interrupted. “Jack, K-9. Why don’t you distract our hosts, I’ll deal with this.” He suggested, eyeing the door lock. It would take him a few moments to deal with it, and he knew better than to suggest that the Master deal with the aliens. Like as not, he’d kill them.

He set to work, keeping a bit of attention on the trio nearby. K-9 was shooting a random pattern of lazer fire, though the Doctor could tell it was on low power. Jack was doing the same with his weapon, and the Master just stood with a bored expression on his face.

After a minute, the door opened, and the Doctor waved his companions in, locking it behind them. In the room was an entire wall of circuitry, some video monitors here and there, and a plethora of lights, switches, and buttons. The Doctor let out an impressive whistle. “Wow. Got to hand it to them, this is impressive.”

Jack wandered over, head tilting slightly as he studied one of the monitors. “Looks like that library we just left. Except a while lot emptier.”

It was the library, though the Doctor would really just call it an empty room with a chair in there at this point. He wandered over, dismissing the screen in favor of studying the circuits and buttons, putting his glasses on his face as he leaned down to take a closer look. “Well, this matches the designs. More or less.”

“Can you reverse what’s happened?” Jack asked, looking over the control board as well. He couldn’t understand a single bit of this machine, and could only hope the Doctor could.

The Master replied to the question, already tearing into the machine to begin the adjustments. “It’ll take a bit of rewiring, but it is possible.” He knew it wouldn’t be long before their captors found a way into this room. He’d much prefer not to be here when that happened.

The Doctor frowned, but agreed. It was possible. And while he might not understand just _why_ the Master was helping, he wasn’t going to make him stop. Not so long as they were working for the same goal. “Jack, you keep an eye on the door. Make sure no one gets in. K-9. Looks like I’m going to need your help.”

It took longer than he’d thought it would, they’d had to pause for a bit to reroute some teleports when some of the aliens had tried to transmat in. And even now the Master was still monitoring that, under the watchful eye of Jack of course.

Ten, lying on his back under the panel, finished attaching the last few wires before sliding out and pulling himself to his feet. “There we go.” He said with a grin, looking up at the screen he’d rigged to display the timelines. The lines were already normalizing, the energy output reversing as the timelines were put back in order. “Shouldn’t take long now.” He commented, addressing the others. “Like I said before, we’ll all go back to our own timelines. None of us will remember this, not really. It’ll be like a dream half forgotten.” He sniffed, shrugging lightly and stepping down, putting his hands in his pockets as he wandered over. “And don’t worry, I’ve set up a message to be sent to the Tardis. Nothing specific, no details. Just a hint for me to come and deal with this place when the timelines get put right. Wouldn’t want this to start all over again.”

It was just a waiting game now, though at least this time it wasn’t a bad thing. And even if the aliens got in, they’d have a hard time stopping the process now. Sure, they’d eventually be able to get the machine working again, but it would take them long enough that he’d have plenty of time to come here in the Tardis and dismantle it for good.

“There was quite a lot to be put right. So, it might take bit.” He explained, turning to glance at the screen before facing the others again. “Master.” He said, voice going serious as he faced the other time lord. “There isn’t anything I can say to you, nothing either of us will remember, so…” he sighed, shaking his head slightly. Whatever was going on the Master, it was something in the Doctor’s future. “I suppose I’ll be seeing you then.”

Ten turned to K-9 next, crouching down to scratch the metal dog’s head. “This should all be wiped from your memory as well, but if it’s not, you’re not to mention it, ever. To anyone. The last thing I want to deal with is some great big paradox.” He gave the instructions seriously, though grinned after a moment. He trusted K-9 not to do anything that would cause problems. “Good dog, K-9” he said affectionately, patting his head one last time before standing.

”Jack.” he said, moving to immortal man and giving a slight solute. “Stay out of trouble.” He grinned, knowing that wouldn’t happen.

Goodbye’s over and done with, all that was left was the waiting. They stood there chatting for a while to pass the time. After a while K-9 disappeared. “Back to Sarah Jane.” Ten said with a small smile. The Master was the next to go. He hadn’t been adding much to the conversation, but the Doctor had been keeping an eye on him just in case. He didn’t want the Master trying to get away and cause chaos, so he’d been watching, which was the only reason he’d noticed him vanish at all.

”Doc, be careful.” Jack said when he noticed the Master was missing. “I know you won’t remember it, but whatever he’s up to… Well, something’s different. That lightning with the snowman? I know he didn’t have that ability when we last saw him.”

”Not to mention he died.” The Doctor added. Jack nodded at that but said nothing else. There would be no point.

Jack was gone soon after that, leaving him as the last. The focal point of the machine, it was no surprise. He sighed lightly, walking over to the board and looking down at the numbers. 1% left. Wouldn’t be long now. He just wished……

The Doctor jerked upright, blinking in confusion. He ran a hand through his hair, looking around at the control room in the Tardis. He was sitting on the seat, and judging by how his back felt, he’d been sleeping there. He stood, stretching slightly and rubbing the back of his neck. It was odd, him falling asleep there, or at all. He pondered it for a moment, trying to think. There was something… But it was gone, faded away. He let it go, moving to the console and twisting a few things, pulling a lever or two. He needed a distraction, something to take his mind off what had just happened. Leaving Donna like that… But no, he wasn’t thinking about that. Somewhere fun, interesting. The 1850’s perhaps. He let a small smile slip into place, looking up at the Tardis as he pulled the final lever, launching her into the time vortex.

# End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry. I took forever and ever to get this last chapter in. And it's not even that long.  
> I hope you've liked this little mini adventure. It was a nice distraction for me a the very least.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and constructive criticism are appreciated.


End file.
